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Merecroft
__NOEDITSECTION__ Places of Interest 'The Rookery' (Haven) The Rookery is a handsome estate perched in the heart of conservative Merecroft amongst its equally conservative, sprawling homes that defy the idea of 'single family.' Large green lawns to be tackled only with a riding mower enfold a low, rectangular structure designed entirely on postmodern principles. Cement wallboxes form part of the exterior, incorporating the pencil-thin cedars and dwarf junipers for perpetual evergreen strokes. Natural dark granite blocks face a geometric entryway, the squared wood-sided overhang receding like pixellated blocks towards a set of wooden double doors. Windows in the design are few and narrow slashes in the stony exterior, giving an aura of monolithic force and primacy. Laws: * Powers of the blood may not be used while on this property without permission from Maxwell Rook or Katherine Lawrence * Powers of the blood may not be used from anywhere on residents and guests without permission from Maxwell Rook or Katherine Lawrence 'Arkham Club '(Haven, Academics/Occult 1, Socialize 5 Site) An impressive Georgian mansion with an impressive membership roster. Wood paneling, gleaming hardwood floors, plush carpets and velvet drapes abound. It is always open to members, and a porter is always on duty. Private meeting rooms host both large and small groups, including an elegant board room for business meetings of consequence. Membership by invitation only, extended by the Membership Committee at the behest of a current member in good standing. Amenities include a library, a billiards room, a commons room, a bar, and a small dining room. Three bedrooms are available. A secret staircase behind a bookshelf in the Library leads to a small, secret inner lounge, a fascinating holdover from Prohibition days. A key card is needed to get in there. Even members of the Arkham Club aren't quite sure how to get one of those. 'Whitechapel Terrace '(Medicine 2 Site, Feeding Ground 2) Formerly the Whitechapel Nursing Home, this not-for-profit, residential care facility has been serving Arkham for nearly a century. Known locally as "the Terrace," it provides 24-hour staffing, with a registered nurse on duty at all times. Care here is excellent and expensive. Its grounds are expansive, well manicured, and green with wide lawns and small copses of broadleaf trees. A low, white stucco wall surrounds the property. Whitechapel Terrace has 160 beds, plus another dozen beds in its Alzheimer's Care Unit, a completely self-contained and secure section, but presently, there is a seven year wait for residency here once one has applied. 'Manton Middle School '(Academics/Science 1 Site) This school is named after Arkham educator Joel Manton, who was one of the city’s best superintendents until the day he disappeared without a trace back in 1942. Grades 6-8 meet here from the last Monday in August to the first Friday in June. 'Arkham Visiting Nurse Association, Inc. '(Medicine 1 Site) Visiting nurses from this business provide home care service seven days a week, including nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and homemakers. At least three women man the telephones and manage scheduling from the former living room, transformed into an office with bright shades of sunny blue on the wall and sunlight streaming through the wide windows during the day. In the evening, the skeleton staff manages requests in coordination with off-site consultants. The building is commonly known as 'the Upton Place', a lovely and unusual house built in the 1960s by Daniel Upton, a successful Arkham architect. 'Congregation Bet Ve Shalom '(Haven/Socialize 1/Expression 2 Site) For years after meeting in various locations all around Arkham, the local Jewish community finally had a real synagogue upon taking ownership of the long-deserted Appley Mansion. The community paid back taxes, added a wing, tore out rotted paneling and refurbished the interior to be a bright, inviting place. Temple-goers after the Saturday evening service sometimes return to the parking lot to find their car missing. Whoever is stealing the cars drives them only a few hundred yards from the lot before ditching them curbside. Most of the time, the community chalks up these prankish annoyances to just that - an annoyance - and continues their community life. The Appley Mansion wine cellar is completely disused, and dozens of rat-traps have been laid and filled down there, and then eaten by the rats. An open sewer grate is clearly the culprit for letting the rodents in, left over from the turn of the century laying of the sewer in this area. 'Essex Inn '(Housing/Socialize 1 Site) Built for grander times, this beautiful old house is meticulously maintained as a bed and breakfast by the owners. There are four well-appointed bedrooms done up in colonial or federalist style. Modern amenities include cable television and telephone in each bedroom; each bedroom has its own small bathroom. A communal dining room serves continental breakfast each morning. A small lot behind the house affords parking for boarders. Room rates are higher than area hotels but the Essex Inn seldom lacks for boarders seeking a “genuine New England experience.” 'Northeast Plumbing and Supply '(Persuasion 1, Crafts 3 Site) Don’t let the pedestrian business name fool you: one of New England’s largest installers and distributors of plumbing, cooling, heating, and piping products is a multi-million dollar enterprise. Licensed for residential, commercial, and industrial applications. The ground floor of this multi-level business serves as retail showroom space for the latest fireplaces, designer baths, air conditioning units, vanities and toilets, sump pumps, etc. The upper floors stock thousands of parts ranging from basic toilet flush valves to advanced bioprocessing components for pharmaceutical manufacture machinery. The topmost floors serve as office and executive space. A fenced-in back lot houses the company’s fleet of service trucks. 'Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses '(Persuasion/Expression 2, Socialize 1 Site - Lowers property values) This is the local meeting place for Jehovah's Witnesses. The Witnesses can often be seen making rounds in area neighborhoods, religious tracts in hand, going door to door to spread the Good News to all who are receptive, and as many of those who are not as they can. Their presence most certainly lowers property values in the region, much to Merecroft's general annoyance. Meetings at the Hall thrice weekly: once on Sunday and twice during the week. 'P. Mearls, Attorney At Law '(Academics (Law) 3, Investigation 1 Site) Specializing in property, wills and estates, Attorney Mearls had a full career as an assistant district attorney for Essex county for 20 years before switching to private practice. In his late fifties, Mearls now enjoys the slower pace and less stressful task of sorting out wills, negotiating properties through probate, and distributing assets to surviving family members. He retains many contacts in high places throughout the Massachusetts law enforcement and judicial systems. His office is contained in a single-storey building with handsome windowboxes outside and thick wooden blinds in the windows perpetually shut. The interior shows a taste for nautical bric-a-brac, with the paintings of sailing ships from Kingsmouth's maritime days and a sextant used as a bookend in the floor-to-ceiling built-ins full of selected legal books. Category:Merecroft Category:Arkham Category:Locations Category:French Hill Category:Academics sites Category:Science sites Category:Investigation sites Category:Persuasion sites Category:Expression sites Category:Socialize sites Category:Craft sites Category:Occult sites Category:Medicine sites Category:Feeding Grounds